What seemed like it was going to be one helluva 2016 for Kenneth Nkosana Makate is rapidly turning ugly, the ConCourt judgement in his favour from six weeks back (HERE) now dissolving into a clash between lawyers and investors who financed his case.

The ConCourt ruling on April 26 gave Vodacom 30 days to negotiate a settlement with Makate, but now it appears the most trouble may come from within his own camp.

Here’s TimesLive:

…a company is applying for an urgent court interdict to stop the cellphone giant from paying a cent to Makate.

Alternatively‚ the company‚ called Raining Men Trade‚ wants the courts to make Vodacom pay him no more than 50% of the settlement reached on what he should be paid for coming up with the hugely successful Please Call Me service…

…in a bizarre turn of events‚ Raining Men and Chris Schoeman‚ who found investors to fight the case against Vodacom‚ claim that an attorney on their own legal team conspired with another law firm to oust the company.

The attorney‚ Wilna Lubbe‚ allegedly told Makate that the funders were not paying his legal fees and he could become liable for the costs. A new attorney was then introduced to Makate.

The row involves false letters of demand being sent out‚ grossly inflated legal fees and some of the investors who backed the case being described as “nothing less than leeches”.

Dangle the prospect of a multi-billion rand payout, some estimates putting the settlement at close to R7 billion, and the vultures will always circle.

What’s that joke about 99% of lawyers giving the other 1% a bad name again?

[source:timeslive]